T.D. “Dusty” Rich, Albuquerque, N.M., was inducted into the Hereford Hall of Merit. Dusty served as the APHA president for 10 years — 1979-89.

After being raised on a commercial cow-calf operation near Ringling, Okla., Rich obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oklahoma State University (OSU). Rich then continued his education at Purdue, where his doctoral work was in reproduction physiology and animal breeding.

After college Rich joined the faculty at South Dakota State University (SDSU), where he was named an outstanding teacher in the college of agriculture. After three years at SDSU, he moved to the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center at Overton to conduct research in beef cattle reproduction. After a short time in Texas, Rich returned to his home state of Oklahoma in 1973 to be an Extension animal breeding specialist for OSU. In 1977 he was promoted to professor.

He also was the first manager for Oklahoma Beef Inc., has served on committees for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and has judged more than 200 livestock shows.

He joined the APHA staff in October 1979. During his decade with the Association, the financial situation of the organization was very much improved. The Association’s net worth doubled, and its cash reserved for investments tripled. This improved financial position allowed programs to be continued without raising fees. Also, a comprehensive computerized records program was implemented, allowing registration certificates to include dam and sire summaries, herd profiles, individual EPDs (expected progeny differences) and more.

Rich played a leadership role in opening foreign markets for U.S. beef genetics to Australia, New Zealand and several African countries.

Recently he has served as a nutritionist with Alliance Nutrition Inc. (formerly Moorman’s).